Text:
Galatians 1:13&14; 2:15-21
Memory Verse:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
To live by something means to agree with and follow a set of beliefs. Paul, the Apostle, offers us a good insight into two different convictions he had lived by. First, he was a zealous Pharisee who learnt under the scholarly Gamaliel. He believed only in the law of Moses and rejected the message of salvation that Jesus lived and died for. He was also the custodian of the clothes of those who killed Stephen, thereby becoming an active collaborator to his murder.
His convictions changed through his encounter with the Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus to further persecute the Church. It was indeed a dramatic turn around. His belief in Christ made him live for Christ by God’s strength. He had total trust in all that Christ stood for and reiterated the fact that no one could be justified by keeping the law. The law demanded that man be perfect but
anyone who failed in one while keeping the law had failed in all (James 2:10)!
Trying to please God through your good works will also fail because it is written that all our righteousness or good works are like filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).
Stop trying to please God in your own way. Follow His guidelines. Put your trust in Christ and He will give you the power to live as a child of God. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ.
Prayer Points:
1. Lord, grant that I will live by the right convictions.
2. Lord, help me to totally live by faith in Christ.
